* ActorInspiredElement: Sanchez's love of cigars came from Creator/RobertDavi. He also suggested to Creator/BenicioDelToro that Dario be the closest to Sanchez, giving them a brotherly relationship. It was Davi who suggested to Del Toro that he call out Sanchez's name during his death scene.
* BTeamSequel: Music/JohnBarry was unable to score the film, as he was undergoing throat surgery.
* BreakawayPopHit: The closing theme "If You Asked Me To", sung by Music/PattiLaBelle, which was later covered by Music/CelineDion, becoming one of her first English-language hits.
* CaliforniaDoubling: UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} largely served as set for the fictional BananaRepublic of Isthmus. It would be twenty-six years till the country would be used as itself in the series, in ''Film/{{Spectre}}''.
* CompletelyDifferentTitle:
** In Italy, the film was released as ''Vendetta Privata'' ("Personal Revenge" or "Private Revenge"), not following the translation, because ''Film/DrNo'' was titled ''Licenza di Uccidere'', the translation of this film's title. Sweden had the same problem: ''Dr. No'' had been ''Agent 007 med rätt att döda'' ("Agent 007 with a licence to kill"), so ''Tid för hämnd'' ("Time for revenge") was used for this movie.
** Other countries used ''Licence Revoked'' (Japan; the release there retained the working title); ''With A Right To Kill'' (Norway); ''Permission to Kill'' (Brazil). Hungary used a completely different title, ''James Bond: The Lone Agent''. Finland, Croatia, Portugal, Spain and Latin America simply translated the actual title.
* ContestWinnerCameo: One of the extras during the wedding is Sandi Sentell, a gym teacher from Atlanta, Georgia, who won a Creator/{{MTV}}[=/=]Creator/{{VH1}} competition to appear in the film.
* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode:
** Creator/JohnGlen has said that the film "is among my best Bond films, if not the best".
** Creator/TimothyDalton thought it was the Bond script he had waited years to see, calling it "the best since ''Film/{{Thunderball}}''", although he would later admit that he preferred ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' as a film.
** This was Creator/DesmondLlewelyn's favourite Bond film, due to his expanded role.
* DeletedScene: A big pile of exposition scenes were cut for the sake of brevity:
** A distressed Sharkey arriving at Leiter's house the morning after Sanchez's attack, and struggling to get past the local police.
** Bond and Sharkey staking out the [=WaveKrest=] with binoculars on Sharkey's boat. Bond recognises Lupe on the boat from afar, and Krest's goons warn them off with a megaphone.
*** In the film proper, Sharkey is killed, his boat stolen and his body paraded by Krest's men, but it's not explained why, or how they knew who he was. This scene appears to explain that.
** Bond hiring the boat he uses to go to the rendezvous with Pam at the Barrelhead Bar.
** Bond and Pam's arrival at Isthmus airport, at the same time as Sanchez's Chinese investors. Pam fills Bond in on Truman Lodge and Heller's backgrounds - the former is wanted for insider dealing on Wall Street, while the latter is a disgraced Green Berets colonel. Meanwhile, M's agent Fallon smokes a cigarette and watches them from a distance.
** At the Banco de Isthmus, just prior to his deposit, Bond accidentally brushes shoulders with an excited Sanchez, who is rushing to greet Truman Lodge and the Chinese investors. Bond is mortified, but Sanchez does not recognise him.
** Bond in his hotel room in Isthmus, watching Sanchez & President Lopez belligerently being interviewed live on television. He readies his gun and lights a cigarette with Felix's lighter. It presumably takes place before he heads to the casino.
** Bond returning to the casino to pick up Pam, after he left her to formally meet Sanchez upstairs.
** An extended version of Bond's interrogation by Kwang's agents at the house, showing the ninjas dragging him out of a car boot and strapping him to a table. Loti also slaps Bond in the face when he refuses to answer Kwang's questions.
** A short scene between Bond and Lupe on the beach, following his escape from Sanchez's villa, where Bond asks Lupe if she's in love with Sanchez. She flatly states that she hates him.
* DyeingForYourArt: For her role, Creator/CareyLowell "tried to exercise and be incredibly fit".
* FakeNationality:
** Queens-born Italian-American Creator/RobertDavi plays the Latin American villain Franz Sanchez.
** Japanese-American Creator/CaryHiroyukiTagawa as Hong Kong narcotics agent Kwan.
* HeyItsThatPlace: The set for ''Paradise Island'' is the same location used for Sanchez's house.
* HeyItsThatSound:
** [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Benny the Cab]]'s revving and skidding sounds were used for this film's cars.
** [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Roger Rabbit]]'s scream can be faintly heard once when a truck drives away during the truck chase.
* MethodActing: Creator/RobertDavi stayed in character even when the cameras weren't rolling.
* NoStuntDouble: According to Michael G. Wilson, that really is Creator/TimothyDalton running from the exploding tanker and not a stunt double.
* OnSetInjury: Creator/BenicioDelToro accidentally cut Creator/TimothyDalton's hand.
-->Benicio Del Toro cut off my finger. It wasn't really his fault, but we were doing the scene where I'm hanging over a meat-grinder and he's cutting away at the wires holding me and something went wrong. Come to think of it, we probably shouldn't have had a sharp knife.
* TheOriginalDarrin: John Terry, who had played Felix Leiter in the previous film ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'', was replaced by Creator/DavidHedison - who had played Leiter all the way back in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' sixteen years prior. It was felt that an actor who had previously played the role should be in this one, for a better emotional reaction to what happens to him. Hedison thus became the first actor to play Leiter more than once until Creator/JeffreyWright in the Creator/DanielCraig era.
* PromotedFanboy:
** Creator/BenicioDelToro was a 007 fan.
-->I grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In my room, I had a lobby card of ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', so I grew up liking James Bond. I met Cubby Broccoli. The experience was fantastic.
** Wayne Newton got the role of Professor Joe Butcher after sending a letter to the producers expressing interest in a cameo because he always wanted to be in a Bond film.
* RealLifeWritesTheHairstyle: Creator/CareyLowell had naturally short hair at the time, so she wore a wig in all scenes prior to her haircut.
* RealitySubtext: Kind of inverted when Sanchez's actor, Creator/RobertDavi was taken by a number of thugs while on vacation in South America to an actual drug lord after the film was made. [[MisaimedFandom The man enjoyed his portrayal of a drug lord.]] Davi later revealed in 2016 interviews that said drug lord was none other than Pablo Escobar, who had provided some inspiration for the role of Franz Sanchez.:
* RoleReprise: Creator/DavidHedison played Felix Leiter in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' in 1973, and reprised the role for ''Licence to Kill'' sixteen years later even though Leiter had just appeared in ''The Living Daylights'' played by John Terry. Apparently, it happened because producer Albert R. Broccoli thought a familiar face was needed for Leiter given his prominence in the plot.
* ThoseTwoActors: Robert Davi and Grand L. Bush had appeared together in the previous year's ''Film/DieHard'', as FBI Agents "Big" Johnson and "Little" Johnson respectively.
* ThrowItIn:
** Creator/RobertDavi improvised the line where Sanchez tells Killifer, "Loyalty is more important to me than money."
** Also the shot of Q throwing the rake-radio into the bushes was simply Desmond Llewellyn putting it out of shot for the next scene, however the sight of Q abusing a gadget the way he always complains about Bond doing was [[HypocriticalHumor too good to lose]].
* TroubledProduction:
** The film was hit by a writer's strike, tax issues meaning it was unaffordable to film in the UK and severe heat while filming in Mexico.
** The supernatural impression the filming crew had of the highway was confirmed, at least in John Glen's mind, when he saw a set photo of the explosion that kills Sanchez featuring [[https://www.universalexports.net/the-flaming-hand-of-license-to-kill/ an eerie flaming hand]].
* VacationDearBoy: Wayne Newton spent a week filming his part in Mexico. According to Michael G. Wilson, "he said it was like having a vacation".
* WagTheDirector: Costume designer Jodie Tillen, who worked on ''Series/MiamiVice'', wanted Bond to wear pastels, but Creator/TimothyDalton argued in favour of a more casual look.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[WhatCouldHaveBeen/JamesBond Enough for its own page]].
* WorkingTitle: ''Licence Revoked''. Among the reasons for changing the title was to avoid confusion with the 1981 James Bond novel, ''Licence Renewed'', written by John Gardner (who ended up writing a novel based on this film as well). ''Licence Renewed'' means the exact opposite of ''Licence Revoked''. Another reason for the change was that "license revoked" denotes losing one's driving privileges in the USA.
* YouSoundFamiliar:
** The French voice of Franz Sanchez, Creator/GerardHernandez, voiced Hector Gonzales in ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly''.
** The French voice of Felix Leiter in this film, Creator/DanielRusso, voiced Kamran Shah in the previous film, ''Film/TheLivingDaylights''.
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